Sport and recreational fishing generally involves the use of fishing tackle, typically a fishing pole or rod in combination with a reel adapted to selectively receive and deploy a length of fishing line. A hook is secured to the end of the line to hold a bait or artificial lure which is then cast into the open water to deceive a fish into striking it, thereby allowing it to be caught.
Unless the fish strikes within view of the bait or lure, most fisherman look for telltale movement in the rod tip or the line for indications of an impending strike. This involves guesswork and is of course highly unreliable, especially to the novice.
Prior art visual aids for fisherman include sonar units that emit a high frequency sound and provide a graphic recording of the region being fished or sensors that alert the fisherman to subtle movements in the line or the fishing rod. Although underwater cameras are known to exist, for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,485,398 (Chapin, Jr. et al.), these devices have no practical application for the recreational fisherman.
The advent of fiber optic technology has enabled the transmission of images through extremely thin diameter lines. Bulky transmission cables and lenses have been replaced by super-thin, sheathed light guides that transmit light to illuminate a target area and convey the image back to a camera. Operational tube diameters as small as 0.25 mm have now been achieved.
Although fiber optic light guides have been employed in fishing line as a means to attract fish, for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,617,751 (Johansson), no prior art fishing tackle exists that enables a user to receive a visual image at the fishing pole of the region adjacent the bait or lure when fishing. It is against this background that the present invention was developed.